Our visit to Wild Turkey was sadly a short one. We had a packed schedule that day and if we were to make all of the stops we’d planned, we’d need to have arrived bang on time to hit the tour running. As it happened, we arrived just as the tour minibus left the car park. Bummer. What wasn’t a bummer, however, is where Wild Turkey are located - above the Kentucky River valley, and this fabulous view: The valley sides are dotted with towering seven-storey rickhouses, all slowly turning black - the growth of “distiller’s mould” - a fungus that grows on rickhouse walls, encouraged by the evaporating spirits inside.

If the Woodford Reserve distillery was an example of big-business trying to run an authentic shop the modern way, then Town Branch is the same concept, but taken fully modernised and industrialised - albeit on a small(-ish) scale. The Town Branch distillery is an offshoot of the Town Branch Brewery, which itself is a sub-division of the Alltech livestock and poultry feed and nutrition company. The what-what now? An animal feed company making whiskey?

Our visit to Woodford Reserve presented an altogether different kind of approach to the distillation process. In stark contrast to Buffalo Trace, everything at Woodford Reserve is spotless, new, and highly finished. The entire tour environment is geared for visitors, whereas at the ‘Trace it definitely felt more like you were visiting a real-deal workplace. Even the welcome centre is styled like a modern, colonial homestead, and the gift shop and waiting area is furnished with beautiful leather loungers and an impressive feature fireplace.

The Buffalo Trace distillery is a huge facility located on the outskirts of Frankfort, KY. Buffalo Trace don’t take part in the officially endorsed ‘Kentucky Bourbon Trail’, preferring to stand alone. It’s not like they need the marketing assist after all, as they produce the now-legendary Pappy Van Winkle line of whiskey, which is so ridiculously in-demand and in short supply that bottles exchange hands for many times their true retail price - that is, if you can even find any at all.

I want to prefix this long diatribe with the disclaimers that I am not an expert on politics, I am not an economist, and I’m not even a particularly smart person. For reals. This will be my second ever political blog posting. I’m almost ashamed of myself for doing it. I’m sorry. I’ve just never felt so compelled to write about things like this before - I’ve been on the losing side of every major election I’ve been able to vote in and I’ve brushed it off with a sigh and just, y’know… got on.

Not normally a political animal, me. I’m not someone who’ll generally preach either - you vote for whoever, or whatever you want to - I’m not here to judge. However, I find myself drawn to write something about this upcoming European Referendum. Friends, family and co-workers have asked me how I’ll vote - which surprises me as people tend to be quite secretive about their political voting habits - like, you wouldn’t ask a colleague at the office who they were voting for in a General Election, right?

Welcome back to my Very British Guide to the US Election, where we’ve been talking about the machinations of the race for the White House. If you’ve missed them, catch parts 1 and 2. Today’s the day of the Nevada Caucuses, and will be a make-or-break day for some of the remaining candidates. Chief amongst those is probably former Vice-President, Joe Biden. Let’s talk about Joe. Joe’s campaign is not where his advisors and pundits thought it would be at this early stage.

This is Part 2 of my Very British Guide to the US Election. If you missed Part 1, find it here. So, now that we’ve covered our Civics 101, looking at Congress, the President, voting and the Electoral College, let’s start looking at what’s actually going to happen this year. Donald Trump vs. ?? Presidents can only serve a maximum of two consecutive terms of 4 years, for a total of 8 years.

It’s officially Election season in the US. I mean, for reals. It feels like it has been looming, ominously, on the horizon here, like a unavoidable future task that will definitely demand your attention - like a tax return, or a leaky roof. And, it’s kind of felt like this since the day of the infamous “yuge” inauguration, and the rumbling, lengthy sagas of the Robert Mueller report1 and the Impeachment trial2 were just mere distractions before the real task at hand.

I want to prefix this long diatribe with the disclaimers that I am not an expert on politics, I am not an economist, and I’m not even a particularly smart person. For reals. This will be my second ever political blog posting. I’m almost ashamed of myself for doing it. I’m sorry. I’ve just never felt so compelled to write about things like this before - I’ve been on the losing side of every major election I’ve been able to vote in and I’ve brushed it off with a sigh and just, y’know… got on.

Not normally a political animal, me. I’m not someone who’ll generally preach either - you vote for whoever, or whatever you want to - I’m not here to judge. However, I find myself drawn to write something about this upcoming European Referendum. Friends, family and co-workers have asked me how I’ll vote - which surprises me as people tend to be quite secretive about their political voting habits - like, you wouldn’t ask a colleague at the office who they were voting for in a General Election, right?

So hey. Hi. I feel like it’s been a while. It has been a while. Probably an idea to restate some things, and to get re-acquainted. Maybe I’ll write more comprehensive stories about these things in time, but, y’know, since we last met, here’s the skinny on what’s been happening: We moved to the US in April 2017 I still work for Microsoft We bought a house We got a dog (Elmo) We had a baby (Stanley Bear) We have permanent residence (Green Card) status now That last one is actually particularly important.

Our visit to Wild Turkey was sadly a short one. We had a packed schedule that day and if we were to make all of the stops we’d planned, we’d need to have arrived bang on time to hit the tour running. As it happened, we arrived just as the tour minibus left the car park. Bummer. What wasn’t a bummer, however, is where Wild Turkey are located - above the Kentucky River valley, and this fabulous view: The valley sides are dotted with towering seven-storey rickhouses, all slowly turning black - the growth of “distiller’s mould” - a fungus that grows on rickhouse walls, encouraged by the evaporating spirits inside.

If the Woodford Reserve distillery was an example of big-business trying to run an authentic shop the modern way, then Town Branch is the same concept, but taken fully modernised and industrialised - albeit on a small(-ish) scale. The Town Branch distillery is an offshoot of the Town Branch Brewery, which itself is a sub-division of the Alltech livestock and poultry feed and nutrition company. The what-what now? An animal feed company making whiskey?

Our visit to Woodford Reserve presented an altogether different kind of approach to the distillation process. In stark contrast to Buffalo Trace, everything at Woodford Reserve is spotless, new, and highly finished. The entire tour environment is geared for visitors, whereas at the ‘Trace it definitely felt more like you were visiting a real-deal workplace. Even the welcome centre is styled like a modern, colonial homestead, and the gift shop and waiting area is furnished with beautiful leather loungers and an impressive feature fireplace.

The Buffalo Trace distillery is a huge facility located on the outskirts of Frankfort, KY. Buffalo Trace don’t take part in the officially endorsed ‘Kentucky Bourbon Trail’, preferring to stand alone. It’s not like they need the marketing assist after all, as they produce the now-legendary Pappy Van Winkle line of whiskey, which is so ridiculously in-demand and in short supply that bottles exchange hands for many times their true retail price - that is, if you can even find any at all.

Hello friends. It’s been a while, right? I could apologise for my extended hiatus from spewing forth into this webular blog, but quite honestly I have no excuses other than laziness and inertia, and any apology would be frankly, insincere. Anyhow. When I was a hazy 16 year old, I hung with a group of friends who mainly partook in playing football in the park, obtaining ‘teenths of draw at the lowest possible cost (or ideally on tic), and cracking open cans of Tennents in someone’s living room.

Welcome back to my Very British Guide to the US Election, where we’ve been talking about the machinations of the race for the White House. If you’ve missed them, catch parts 1 and 2. Today’s the day of the Nevada Caucuses, and will be a make-or-break day for some of the remaining candidates. Chief amongst those is probably former Vice-President, Joe Biden. Let’s talk about Joe. Joe’s campaign is not where his advisors and pundits thought it would be at this early stage.

This is Part 2 of my Very British Guide to the US Election. If you missed Part 1, find it here. So, now that we’ve covered our Civics 101, looking at Congress, the President, voting and the Electoral College, let’s start looking at what’s actually going to happen this year. Donald Trump vs. ?? Presidents can only serve a maximum of two consecutive terms of 4 years, for a total of 8 years.

It’s officially Election season in the US. I mean, for reals. It feels like it has been looming, ominously, on the horizon here, like a unavoidable future task that will definitely demand your attention - like a tax return, or a leaky roof. And, it’s kind of felt like this since the day of the infamous “yuge” inauguration, and the rumbling, lengthy sagas of the Robert Mueller report1 and the Impeachment trial2 were just mere distractions before the real task at hand.

I want to prefix this long diatribe with the disclaimers that I am not an expert on politics, I am not an economist, and I’m not even a particularly smart person. For reals. This will be my second ever political blog posting. I’m almost ashamed of myself for doing it. I’m sorry. I’ve just never felt so compelled to write about things like this before - I’ve been on the losing side of every major election I’ve been able to vote in and I’ve brushed it off with a sigh and just, y’know… got on.

So hey. Hi. I feel like it’s been a while. It has been a while. Probably an idea to restate some things, and to get re-acquainted. Maybe I’ll write more comprehensive stories about these things in time, but, y’know, since we last met, here’s the skinny on what’s been happening: We moved to the US in April 2017 I still work for Microsoft We bought a house We got a dog (Elmo) We had a baby (Stanley Bear) We have permanent residence (Green Card) status now That last one is actually particularly important.

I want to prefix this long diatribe with the disclaimers that I am not an expert on politics, I am not an economist, and I’m not even a particularly smart person. For reals. This will be my second ever political blog posting. I’m almost ashamed of myself for doing it. I’m sorry. I’ve just never felt so compelled to write about things like this before - I’ve been on the losing side of every major election I’ve been able to vote in and I’ve brushed it off with a sigh and just, y’know… got on.

Not normally a political animal, me. I’m not someone who’ll generally preach either - you vote for whoever, or whatever you want to - I’m not here to judge. However, I find myself drawn to write something about this upcoming European Referendum. Friends, family and co-workers have asked me how I’ll vote - which surprises me as people tend to be quite secretive about their political voting habits - like, you wouldn’t ask a colleague at the office who they were voting for in a General Election, right?

Our visit to Wild Turkey was sadly a short one. We had a packed schedule that day and if we were to make all of the stops we’d planned, we’d need to have arrived bang on time to hit the tour running. As it happened, we arrived just as the tour minibus left the car park. Bummer. What wasn’t a bummer, however, is where Wild Turkey are located - above the Kentucky River valley, and this fabulous view: The valley sides are dotted with towering seven-storey rickhouses, all slowly turning black - the growth of “distiller’s mould” - a fungus that grows on rickhouse walls, encouraged by the evaporating spirits inside.

If the Woodford Reserve distillery was an example of big-business trying to run an authentic shop the modern way, then Town Branch is the same concept, but taken fully modernised and industrialised - albeit on a small(-ish) scale. The Town Branch distillery is an offshoot of the Town Branch Brewery, which itself is a sub-division of the Alltech livestock and poultry feed and nutrition company. The what-what now? An animal feed company making whiskey?

Our visit to Woodford Reserve presented an altogether different kind of approach to the distillation process. In stark contrast to Buffalo Trace, everything at Woodford Reserve is spotless, new, and highly finished. The entire tour environment is geared for visitors, whereas at the ‘Trace it definitely felt more like you were visiting a real-deal workplace. Even the welcome centre is styled like a modern, colonial homestead, and the gift shop and waiting area is furnished with beautiful leather loungers and an impressive feature fireplace.

The Buffalo Trace distillery is a huge facility located on the outskirts of Frankfort, KY. Buffalo Trace don’t take part in the officially endorsed ‘Kentucky Bourbon Trail’, preferring to stand alone. It’s not like they need the marketing assist after all, as they produce the now-legendary Pappy Van Winkle line of whiskey, which is so ridiculously in-demand and in short supply that bottles exchange hands for many times their true retail price - that is, if you can even find any at all.

I want to prefix this long diatribe with the disclaimers that I am not an expert on politics, I am not an economist, and I’m not even a particularly smart person. For reals. This will be my second ever political blog posting. I’m almost ashamed of myself for doing it. I’m sorry. I’ve just never felt so compelled to write about things like this before - I’ve been on the losing side of every major election I’ve been able to vote in and I’ve brushed it off with a sigh and just, y’know… got on.

Not normally a political animal, me. I’m not someone who’ll generally preach either - you vote for whoever, or whatever you want to - I’m not here to judge. However, I find myself drawn to write something about this upcoming European Referendum. Friends, family and co-workers have asked me how I’ll vote - which surprises me as people tend to be quite secretive about their political voting habits - like, you wouldn’t ask a colleague at the office who they were voting for in a General Election, right?

Welcome back to my Very British Guide to the US Election, where we’ve been talking about the machinations of the race for the White House. If you’ve missed them, catch parts 1 and 2. Today’s the day of the Nevada Caucuses, and will be a make-or-break day for some of the remaining candidates. Chief amongst those is probably former Vice-President, Joe Biden. Let’s talk about Joe. Joe’s campaign is not where his advisors and pundits thought it would be at this early stage.

This is Part 2 of my Very British Guide to the US Election. If you missed Part 1, find it here. So, now that we’ve covered our Civics 101, looking at Congress, the President, voting and the Electoral College, let’s start looking at what’s actually going to happen this year. Donald Trump vs. ?? Presidents can only serve a maximum of two consecutive terms of 4 years, for a total of 8 years.

It’s officially Election season in the US. I mean, for reals. It feels like it has been looming, ominously, on the horizon here, like a unavoidable future task that will definitely demand your attention - like a tax return, or a leaky roof. And, it’s kind of felt like this since the day of the infamous “yuge” inauguration, and the rumbling, lengthy sagas of the Robert Mueller report1 and the Impeachment trial2 were just mere distractions before the real task at hand.

So hey. Hi. I feel like it’s been a while. It has been a while. Probably an idea to restate some things, and to get re-acquainted. Maybe I’ll write more comprehensive stories about these things in time, but, y’know, since we last met, here’s the skinny on what’s been happening: We moved to the US in April 2017 I still work for Microsoft We bought a house We got a dog (Elmo) We had a baby (Stanley Bear) We have permanent residence (Green Card) status now That last one is actually particularly important.

Our visit to Wild Turkey was sadly a short one. We had a packed schedule that day and if we were to make all of the stops we’d planned, we’d need to have arrived bang on time to hit the tour running. As it happened, we arrived just as the tour minibus left the car park. Bummer. What wasn’t a bummer, however, is where Wild Turkey are located - above the Kentucky River valley, and this fabulous view: The valley sides are dotted with towering seven-storey rickhouses, all slowly turning black - the growth of “distiller’s mould” - a fungus that grows on rickhouse walls, encouraged by the evaporating spirits inside.

If the Woodford Reserve distillery was an example of big-business trying to run an authentic shop the modern way, then Town Branch is the same concept, but taken fully modernised and industrialised - albeit on a small(-ish) scale. The Town Branch distillery is an offshoot of the Town Branch Brewery, which itself is a sub-division of the Alltech livestock and poultry feed and nutrition company. The what-what now? An animal feed company making whiskey?

Our visit to Woodford Reserve presented an altogether different kind of approach to the distillation process. In stark contrast to Buffalo Trace, everything at Woodford Reserve is spotless, new, and highly finished. The entire tour environment is geared for visitors, whereas at the ‘Trace it definitely felt more like you were visiting a real-deal workplace. Even the welcome centre is styled like a modern, colonial homestead, and the gift shop and waiting area is furnished with beautiful leather loungers and an impressive feature fireplace.

The Buffalo Trace distillery is a huge facility located on the outskirts of Frankfort, KY. Buffalo Trace don’t take part in the officially endorsed ‘Kentucky Bourbon Trail’, preferring to stand alone. It’s not like they need the marketing assist after all, as they produce the now-legendary Pappy Van Winkle line of whiskey, which is so ridiculously in-demand and in short supply that bottles exchange hands for many times their true retail price - that is, if you can even find any at all.

Hello friends. It’s been a while, right? I could apologise for my extended hiatus from spewing forth into this webular blog, but quite honestly I have no excuses other than laziness and inertia, and any apology would be frankly, insincere. Anyhow. When I was a hazy 16 year old, I hung with a group of friends who mainly partook in playing football in the park, obtaining ‘teenths of draw at the lowest possible cost (or ideally on tic), and cracking open cans of Tennents in someone’s living room.